21 Times Children's Movies Were So Harsh They Made People Question If They Were Truly Meant For Kids

Some things you hear make you want to press the rewind button just to be sure.

Maryjane

• Published in Film & TV
• June 14, 2022

Let’s be honest with ourselves here. It's sort of rare for us to actually sit down and watch a whole film with our children, because, come on, where’s the time for that?

But with the inconsistent events that we do or when we end up overhearing something they're watching, there have been more than a couple of seconds that made us need to press the rewind button. It's absolutely understandable when movie companies toss in a couple of jokes for the adults (at least we should be, to some extent, entertained while we're watching movies with our children), but that's not even what we're referring to here.

We're talking about films both old and new that were absolutely alarming. We’re talking about movies with sensitive topics like miscarriage and depression.

We’re talking about movies with scenes so upsetting that they leave our children with only questions. Now hold on, we're not saying that some of these kids' movies aren't thoroughly entertaining, nor are we saying that they're not quality movies.

A significant number of them are, but upon close review, some most certainly feel like they were made more for grown-ups than for kids. So we’ve gone ahead to assemble a couple of film moments that made us keep thinking if these flicks were truly friendly for kids.

And if you’ve watched some of them, you just might agree with us.

1. 'The Addams Family'

The Thanksgiving play scene is out of it. The fact that she burns down an entire camp isn't kid-friendly and then, there's Morticia and Gomez who murdered their foes and buried them in the backyard.

2. 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' is literally all about adultery and murder

3. The movie, 'Fantasia' had those totally creepy "Sorcerer's Apprentice" scene down to the bare-chested wild harpies

4. 'Coraline'

The movie is suspenseful and spooky but the part where Coraline finally finds happiness and they want to sew buttons onto her eyes is creepy.

5. 'Soul' is pretty depressing as there some seriously heavy themes

6. In 'Tangled' we see Rapunzel's mom who is narcissistic and vain and obviously abusive

7. The scene in 'Big Hero 6' where the building explodes and Tadashi is killed is so dark and twisty

8. The movie 'Matilda' clearly shows a child being neglected and verbally abused at home and at school, and at 6 years old she has enough freedom to essentially destroy her parents

9. 'The Incredibles' has so much death and destruction and the scene where Syndrome was sucked into a jet turbine is so sick

10. 'Mulan' is actually pretty intense and the village scene is a bit much for little kids

11. 'Coco' is all about connecting with the souls of dead people

12. '101 Dalmatians'

Wouldn't you say Cruella de Vil is pretty much evil incarnate? We clearly watched this woman commit animal cruelty again and again.

13. 'Toy Story'

The movie is undeniably fantastic but specific moments, like when Woody encounters all the disfigured toys could actually be traumatizing for kids.

14. 'Inside Out' has a really powerful statement on mental health and kids might misinterpret what happened to Riley

15. 'The Wizard of Oz'

The entire film is Dorothy having a nightmare. From the wicked witch to the flying monkeys, it's like a horror flick.

16. 'Up' is an emotionally driven film but some scenes are devastating just like Ellie suffered a miscarriage

17. 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'

It's more of an animated horror film than a children's movie with all the hanging eyeballs and the worms and dead things.

18. The original 1982 version of "Annie"

We see Mrs. Hannigan who is a beast of a person, and the scene in which she's drunkenly singing about how much she hates the "little girls"

19. 'Beetlejuice' deals with death and the afterlife, but there's too much sexual innuendo that isn't exactly subtle

20. So many themes in 'My Girl' are entirely too heavy for little kids

21. 'The Witches' movie is far too scary

The scene when all the witches at the convention are peeling off their faces is so creepy.

There are some truly dark, discouraging, and completely inappropriate scenes in children's movies that have us wondering if these films were ever intended for children in the first place. You’ve seen some of the above.

What are your thoughts about them? Is there any other kid’s movie you want to add to this list?

Drop them all below.

Maryjane